Filed under: Feature | Tags: Bluetooth, Chuck Bass, Consumer Electronics Show, Engadget, LG GD910, LG Group, Mobile phone, New York City, Watch Phone
WELCOME TO CELL ACCESS VIA YOUR WRIST
A few moments ago, LG officially announced their LG watch phone. As a girl who is accused of being unable to let go of her phone in any situation, the watch phone presents an interesting solution. To be fair, I live in New York City where the noise on NYC streets is unbearable on a good day. If I don’t hear the ring over the din of the chaos or feel the vibration through my heavy wool coat, I could miss that next critical call. Chuck Bass sighting on 13th and Avenue A? Yah, missed call. And yes, I live in fear of this particular crisis.
The LG GD910 presents cell phone with Bluetooth capability at wrist level. The device streamlines phone usage loaded simply with three buttons. After viewing Engadget’s video demo from last year (and yes the phone was at CES ’08 as a prototype), usage seems fairly simple. And unlike most other phones I know of (cough, mine, cough cough), this one is water resistant. So if you find yourself in the crazy shitestorm of a weather pattern running across the northeast or northwest, no problem. Phone on my friends.
Production to start late 2009.
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: American Broadcasting Company, Barack Obama, HBO, NBC, NFL, Rock Of Love Bus With Bret Michaels, Television, Television program
HBO has secured exclusive rights to televise the inaugural kickoff ceremonies for Barack Obama on Jan. 18. The cable network said it would make the 90-minute event free to all cable and satellite subscribers, not just those who receive HBO. Variety (1/6)
Rock Of Love Bus With Bret Michaels series debut on VH1 last Sunday at 9p posted a 1.4 rating among A18-49 and drew in 2.1 million total viewers. Also the same night, Confessions Of A Teen Idol premiered at 8p with a 0.6 A18-49 rating and tallied another 0.6 rating with A18-49 viewers for its encore airing at 1030p. (Cynopsis 1/7)
What will it take to make this series die?
American TV viewers continue to be infatuated with the NFL. Based on a report from Nielsen, 225 million Americans tuned into NFL regular season games last year. Other football TV watching stats include: 13 of the 15 most-watched television programs from all programming this fall included NFL games; NFL games were the highest-rated programs locally at a record 88%; and in 2008 NFL games airing on CBS, FOX and NBC averaged 16.6 million viewers which equates to 89% over the 8.8 million average primetime viewership among the four major networks: ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. (Cynopsis 1/7)
AMC has started streaming old-school episodes of “The Prisoner” on its Web site, AMCTV.com. The episodes from the 1960s spy thriller are a prelude to a series remake that is expected to debut on AMC in November. Mediaweek (1/6)
With rival Netflix breathing down its neck, Blockbuster now says it’s looking to hook up with telecom providers such as Verizon and AT&T to offer advanced video services to the home. “As we move toward video-on-demand and pay-per-view, Blockbuster is well-positioned not only to compete on our own, but also to partner with others,” said Jim Keyes, the company’s chief executive officer. Reuters (1/7)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: American Broadcasting Company, Barack Obama, High-definition television, Metacafe, Microsoft, President-elect, TechCrunch, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Interest in troubled Internet giant Yahoo has not waned, it just took a break for the holidays. A group of well known Silicon Valley executives and top investment bankers are putting together a Yahoo takeover deal that would be financed largely from debt supplied by Microsoft, Techcrunch has learned from sources with knowledge of the proposed transaction. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/07/investment-group-makes-run-for-yahoo-using-microsofts-money 1/7)
(Below) Continued evidence that President-elect Obama plans to communicate with the American people using digital platforms thereby assuring him the title, “Most Accessible President in History.” I’ll go make an acceptable banner…
President-elect Barack Obama‘s inaugural committee announced that this year’s inaugural ball will be webcast for the first time on Jan. 20 as part of the effort to include as many as possible in the celebration. The first-ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball will feature “a robust interactive component,” according to the committee, including webcasting and text messaging options to allow neighborhoods across the country to interact with President and the First Lady. (Cynopsis 1/7)
Video sharing site Metacafe launched a new NBA Channel offering daily highlights, top plays and weekly roundups. The offering marks Metacafe’s first licensing deal with a major sports league. (Cynopsis 1/7)
Viewing of HD television content online increased exponentially last year according to data released from HD-focused CDN Move Networks. Move, which handles content delivery for Fox, ABC and the CW, streamed more than 100 million hours of high definition content in 2008 and over 180 million total hours of content overall. Move’s unique viewers more than doubled from 25 million in 2007 to 55 million in 2008. The company’s next goal is to enable high quality streaming and time shifting across multiple devices. (Cynopsis 1/7)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Bright House Networks, Clearwire, Comcast, Google, Motorola, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, WiMAX
AT&T will release a new Motorola handset next Tuesday, the Tundra VA76r, whose clamshell design can withstand the toughest of environmental conditions, according to the companies. They said the Tundra would feature 3G network support, AT&T’s Push to Talk service, and a navigator for advanced tracking and location services at a price of $200 with a rebate and contract. RTT News (1/6)
Fitness video publisher PumpOne has packaged 20 popular interactive fitness programs for the iPhone covering multiple disciplines including Strength, Cardio, Flexibility, Sports, Yoga, Pilates and Physical Therapy. Prices for the “iPump 20” range from free to $2.99/each. (Cynopsis 1/7)
Wireless internet service provider Clearwire initiated its newly-branded 4G Clear internet service in Portland, OR yesterday – the second major market in the U.S. to offer true WiMAX broadband following the launch of Sprint’s Xohm service in Baltimore last Oct. Clear, the result of a new joint venture between Clearwire and Sprint with cash investments from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google, is offering download speeds of up to 6 Mbps for about $50/month for unlimited downloads. The service can be used on the go by PC users by connecting via Clear’s USB modem powered by Motorola, on sale for $49.99. (Cynopsis 1/7)
VOD measurement firm Rentrak signed a multi-year deal with NBC Universal to use its Mobile Essentials service it has been trialing since early 2008. The mobile measurement tools analyze trends and track massive amounts of data in hard-to-aggregate formats including video clips, SMS messaging, ring tones, video games, wallpapers and other mobile content. Media giants have struggled to count and adequately monetize audiences on multiple screens due to the challenges associated with defining and combining separate measurement services. (Cynopsis 1/7)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: 1UP.com, Electronic Gaming Monthly, GameTab.com, Hearst Corporation, Joystiq, UGO Entertainment, UGO Network, Ziff Davis
Hearst Corporation unit UGO Entertainment
has agreed to acquire 1UP.com, a property attracting a gamer audience along with its associated sites including GameVideos.com, MyCheats.com and GameTab.com. There had been rumors about a pending acquisition for a couple of weeks (more specifically, reported by Joystiq), but yesterday evening the company released the official news. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/07/ugo-entertainment-buys-1up-gaming-network-emg-bites-dust 1/7)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Amazon, Amazon.com, AmazonKindle, Apple, CNET Networks, Macworld, VerizonWireless, Yahoo
Verizon Wireless is prepared to back the competitors of Amazon‘s Kindle electronic reader by letting subscribers use the carrier’s network to download books, newspapers and other material, according to a Verizon Wireless executive. The executive also said he doubted the recession would inhibit the growth of such nonessential technologies as e-readers. Reuters (1/6)
I wrote this on the “Wall of Suggested Innovations” last night at CES Unveiled. To this end, I submit my plea to Apple. If you build it, they will come. And if you do, can you get Jobs to present it on his MacWorld Reunion Tour?
By midyear, Intel plans to have a media processor that will be compatible with Adobe’s Flash media player to allow for the screening of Web content via set-tops, digital TVs and other home-entertainment players. Intel also is partnering with Yahoo! on the “Widget Channel,” a platform for weather, news, games and other online content to be shown on TV screens. Multichannel News (1/5) , CNET (1/5)
Broadcom and Adobe Systems also announced a partnership to place Adobe’s Flash platform into Broadcom’s latest digital television and set-top box system-on-a-chip platforms. Adobe’s ubiquitous Flash is the standard for delivering online video to websites including YouTube and Hulu. (Cynopsis 1/7)
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